On The Boards

The Center for Public Interest Design has a number of exciting projects and collaborations currently underway. Here are just a few.

ISS Small Accessory Home Project for Portland

The goal of this project is to design small home prototypes as part of the creation and implementation of a system to greatly increase the supply of small accessory homes in the Portland, Oregon, region that can address issues of sustainability, equity, and economy in a meaningful way, as demonstrated through constructed prototypes. The CPID will be leading the design efforts in partnership with other groups assembled by PSU's Institute for Sustainable Solutions leading research on finance & development, land use regulations & politics, and partnership strategy and assessment.

Philippines Project

In the spring of 2016 the CPID began a collaboration with the University of Tokyo through a studio taught by Professors Sergio Palleroni and Kengo Kuma focused on exploring the role design can play in the Philippines most impoverished communities. Students traveled to the Philippines and experienced first-hand communities living on top of islands and shores of plastic waste washed up on the country's shores. This collaboration will continue to look at opportunities for small interventions to make build change.

Earthquake Recovery in Ecuador

In April 2016 Ecuador suffered a devastating earthquake resulting in over 600 deaths and 27,000 injured. In conjunction with efforts from the University of Tokyo led by Professor Akiko Okabe, the CPID will be continuing disaster-recovery and community resilience initiatives toward design-build efforts that began in the summer and fall of 2017.

Village-Making in Portland

Following a successful initiative to activate Portland's architecture community to respond to houselessness through the design and creation of 14 "sleeping pods," the CPID has been involved in the design and planning for multiple villages. The design of these villages are informed by the communities that houseless partners are creating for themselves, and provide safe and dignified tiny houses with shared kitchen, bathroom, and gathering facilities. The CPID worked with partners on the design and construction of the Kenton Women's Village which opened in June 2017, and is currently working with Communitecture and other partners on the design of the Clackamas Veterans Village, which will open in 2018.

SAGE School

The SAGE (Smart Academic Green Environment) Classroom is a healthy, affordable, and sustainable modular classroom created by PSU faculty and students. Close to 100 classrooms have been purchased and put into use in Washington and Oregon, with school districts across the country interested in SAGE as an alternative to conventional modular classrooms. Currently, the CPID is exploring design options for an entire SAGE school using principles and design standards established through the creation of the SAGE classroom.